


The Storm Before the Calm

by mypoorfaves



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Bonding, Fear, Fear of Thunderstorms, Fluff, Gen, Phobia, Thunderstorms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-28 06:54:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11412600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mypoorfaves/pseuds/mypoorfaves
Summary: Yuri is afraid of thunderstorms so whenever there is one, he and Victor spend the night together watching movies at his place. But what happens when Victor leaves for Japan? Where will Yuri go, and who will he turn to?





	The Storm Before the Calm

**Author's Note:**

> This was a request I got based on a prompt I reblogged on my tumblr.
> 
> This is all platonic Yuri and Mila. Although if you squint and stand on your head when the planets align just right, I suppose you could see it as a romantic ship.
> 
> This takes place the very next day after Victor leaves for Japan. Only Yakov knows he’s left, since Victor hasn’t uploaded the photo from Hasetsu Castle yet.
> 
> Yuri isn’t living with Yakov and Lilia yet, so I’m assuming he lives alone in some really cheap apartment or something, maybe a dorm? Anyways he’d be alone, so that’s why he wants to go to Mila’s rather than back home.
> 
> Anyways, please enjoy!

At the first sound of booming thunderclaps, Yuri heads for Victor’s house.

  
There’s a thunderstorm brewing today. There hasn’t been one for quite a while, and Yuri has been thankful. It saves him from the humiliation of camping out with Victor at his place until the storm passes. Don’t get him wrong, Victor certainly doesn’t judge Yuri for his fear, that much he is sure of, but that doesn’t make it any less humiliating. A phobia of thunderstorms at the age of 15. How childish, he chides himself. He’s the Ice Tiger of Russia. He shouldn’t be afraid of a little light and sound.

  
Despite the pep talk, Yuri can’t help but pick up his pace as lighting again flashes across the sky and thunder rumbles in the looming grey clouds.

 

～

  
“Oi! Victor!” Yuri shouts, pounding on his door. He’s been standing outside for the past five minutes at least. Why isn’t he answering? He should be home. Victor wasn’t even at practice today; if Yakov knew why, he was keeping quiet about it. Yuri just assumed the man was sick. Therefore, it would make sense for him to be home right now and _answer his goddamn door!_

  
Yuri frustratedly calls out and pounds on the door once again. Droplets of rain have already begun to fall in the time he’s been waiting. The drum-like pounding across the sky has become more frequent, and is mimicked by Yuri’s jumping heart as the world is lit up in a monochrome of black and white and grey for an instant before it fades back into darkness.

  
Where else could Victor possibly be? It’s not too late in the evening, despite how dark the clouds are making the sky appear. The sidewalk has become darker too, tainted with drops that are falling thick and fast and in greater numbers now. Given the time (and the fact he skipped practice), if Victor wasn’t home that meant he was out having a good time with some of his friends and wouldn’t be back for a while. Even though Victor _knew_ it was going to rain tonight.

  
“That bastard…” Yuri growls under his breath, forcing himself to feel irritation over hurt that Victor has abandoned looking after him and his childish fears. With a huff, Yuri turns away from the door and walks into the downpour, heading to the only other person he could think to confide in.

 

～

  
By the time he finally approaches his destination, he’s thoroughly drenched and chilled to the bone. His shoes are so filled with water that they make a squelching noise when he walks. His wet socks chafe his already-blistered feet. The sweater he’s wearing is doing nothing to help keep him warm as it’s soaked from the onslaught of rain that continues to pelt him, causing him to shiver. (At least, he likes to tell himself he’s shivering from the cold rather than from fear.)

  
Dragging one heavy foot in front of the other, he reaches Mila’s front door, swallows his pride and rings the doorbell. It takes a moment, but he hears movement within the house. _“Thank god,”_ Yuri thinks. He didn’t have anywhere else to go other than his own lonely home if Mila, too, happened to be out.

  
Another clap of thunder explodes and Yuri flinches with a small whimper. His next exhale comes out shaky and with a shiver as water drips from his soaked hair down his face and onto his wet clothes. Although Mila is evidently inside the house, she seems to be taking her sweet time in coming to the door. Yuri is cold and upset, and ( _damn,_ he hates to admit it, but) frightened. As more lightning flickers across the gloomy sky, he raises a frozen finger to the doorbell again and rings it multiple times, then impatiently pounds on the door and shouts, “Let me in, баба!”

  
That seems to get her attention as she hurries towards the door. Through the closed door, he can faintly hear her muttering to herself wondering why Yuri is here and so snappy.

  
He must look absolutely miserable because Mila stops her complaints the moment she opens the door and sees him standing there looking like a drowned rat. “What are you doing here?” she questions. Yuri automatically opens his mouth to snap back at her, but Mila speaks first. “Never mind why, just get inside! You must be freezing!”

  
Not possessing the will nor energy to argue, he crosses the threshold and Mila closes the door as another crack of thunder booms. It takes all of Yuri’s willpower not to whimper at the sound, but he manages by biting sharply on his lower lip. Luckily Mila doesn’t seem to have noticed. She’s already bustling off towards the hall closet, mentioning something about drying off with some towels.

  
Yuri just stands in the doorway, arms crossed across his body, teeth chattering as he tries unsuccessfully to control his trembling. Mila comes back with a towel and Yuri wordlessly takes it and drapes it over his shoulders. He steps out of his shoes and peels off his socks and steps onto the smooth hardwood floor. It feels surprisingly warm. Or maybe he’s just that cold. He pulls the towel tighter around his frame.

  
“So what brings you to my place?” Mila’s inquisitive voice breaks into his thoughts. He keeps his gaze on his battered feet, not looking up or voicing an answer. “It’s not everyday you willingly want to spend time with me, so something must be up.”

  
Yuri just fiddles with a frayed string from the towel. “I don’t feel like talking about it. It’s stupid anyways…” he trails off, hoping she’ll just drop it. He keeps his gaze aimed at the ground, his wet bangs curtaining his green eyes. When he sneaks a quick glance up, Mila’s expression has softened from prodding to sympathetic.

  
Miraculously, she does drop the subject. “Dry off as best you can. I have a spare shirt I can lend you; it’s from an ex-boyfriend who spent the night one time. You can borrow a pair of my leggings, too.”

  
She retrieves the items quickly and is delivering them to Yuri when a deep, crackling wave of thunder rumbles throughout the house. It crashes like shattering plates and Yuri actually feels the building shake, the vibrations reverberating in his chest and fear tingling down to his toes. The lights flicker off and on for a moment and Yuri gasps, squeezing his eyes shut tightly with a whimper.

  
Even once the rumbling has faded, Yuri keeps his eyes shut as embarrassment immediately rushes to his cheeks. There’s no doubt Mila saw that, and now she _knows_ and she’s going to make fun of him for having such a childish fear.

  
“Oh, Yuri,” he hears her say. “Is that why you came here? You’re scared of storms?” Yuri just nods, not trusting his voice. He’s on the verge of tearsーfrom fear or humiliation he’s not sure; likely both.

  
He expects Mila to laugh at him, insult his ridiculous phobia. What he doesn’t expect is a towel draped over his head. “You need to dry off your hair too,” she says, voice full of care as she gently ruffles his hair through the towel. “You might catch a cold if you don’t.”

  
“I already got drenched in the rain. What difference will it make?” Yuri mutters. Although he’s relieved Mila is not making fun of him, her pity isn’t doing much to boost his pride. He pulls the towel off of his head, simply holding it in his hand.

  
“If you won’t do it yourself, then I’ll do it for you,” Mila offers, taking it back from him. “Quickly get changed. You can take a hot shower too, if you want. I’ll be waiting on the couch when you get out. We’ll have some drinks and pirozhki, and I’ll put a movie on. I hope you like rom-coms, because that’s all I have,” she says with an apologetic smile.

  
Mumbling a thanks, Yuri heads to the bathroom to get changed.

  
～

  
Mila already has everything set up when he emerges in dry clothes. As promised, there’s a plate of pirozhki on the coffee table, as well as two steaming mugs of what Yuri soon discovers is hot cocoa. He settles on the couch, wrapping himself in one of the blankets Mila has brought out. Without much speaking from either of them, she starts the movie.

  
It’s only about two minutes in when Mila once again brings up the issue of Yuri’s hair, the strands still wet and dripping onto his new shirt. Feeling warm and comfortable from both the change of clothes as well as the atmosphere of the home, Yuri doesn’t protest when Mila pats and rubs at his hair with a towel to dry it off. She takes an excessive amount of time in doing the job and Yuri relishes every second. He loves having his hair played with; it just feels so heavenly in a way he can’t even begin to describe. Victor had eventually found out how much it calms him and had taken to playing with his hair and even braiding it on nights with a particularly bad storm.

  
Soon his hair is sufficiently dried and the towel is dropped in a pile on the floor. Yuri focuses his attention back on the movie (though he was barely paying attention before, so comfortable and honestly trying not to fall asleep). He fights a sudden shiverーthis time from pleasureーas Mila runs her fingers through his damp hair. Yuri melts into the touch with a sigh, and he hears Mila give a soft hum resembling a chuckle at the reaction.

  
“If you were a kitten, I have a feeling you’d be purring right now,” Mila comments fondly. Yuri can’t find it in himself to come up with a response, so utterly content and tired and finally feeling at peace. Mila continues her ministrations, the two of them sitting in silence other than the sounds coming from the tv that thankfully drown out the storm. It’s only once Mila starts to style his hair in a simple braid that Yuri finds the courage to speak.

  
“Whenever there’s a storm, I would always stay at Victor’s place,” he starts. There’s the slightest pause from Mila, but she carries on with her actions as Yuri continues to speak. “Once he found out I was scared of storms, he insisted I come over to his place so I wouldn’t be suffering alone.” He smiles fondly at the memory of a concerned Victor inconspicuously pulling him aside one practice and offering he comes to his place after; Yuri had been so scared of the thunder resonating through the rink that he was even flubbing his jumps. Yuri had initially been embarrassed at being found out, but begrudgingly accepted Victor’s offer and it quickly became a routine occurrence. “He would put on a movie to drown out the soundsーjust like we’re doing nowーand he’d even style my hair sometimes too; said it reminded him of his junior days.”

  
Mila isn’t talking, just letting Yuri say what he wants without her input, but her nimble fingers gently wrapping around the blond strands and diligently winding them around each other say more than enough. “I went over to Victor’s today, since the weather was bad,” Yuri tells her. “When I got there, I stood outside for a while but he wasn’t answering the door. Eventually, I just figured he has better things to do than look after me, so I came here.” He feels Mila’s fingers stop, the braid finished. It’s not very long, and there’s no elastic to keep it from fully unraveling.

  
“You were the only other person I could think to turn to,” Yuri explains, eyes focused on his hands folded in his lap. “As much as I hate to admit it, you’re like an older sister to me. Even if you do piss me off a lot of the time,” he adds with irritation he doesn’t truly feel. “So now you know,” he finishes with a sigh, “if Victor didn’t already tell you before, that is. I wouldn’t put it past him to babble something stupid like that to you,” he mutters, still angry at the older skater for blowing him off.

  
“Oh, Yuri,” she consoles him. “It’s not stupid. Everyone has fears. I’m touched that you trust me enough to tell me yours. I didn’t know you were so scared of thunderstorms.”

  
“So Victor didn’t tell you?” Yuri asks, surprised. He turns to face Mila.

  
She shakes her head at his question. “No, he never told me anything. He must really care about you to keep it a secret.” Yuri can’t help but feel touched by her words. “Just like how I care about my sweet little Yura!” Mila gushes and pulls him in for a tight hug.

  
“Let me go, баба!” he shouts, but he doesn’t really mean it. He doesn’t fight to get out of her embrace and soon settles down.

  
It must be getting late, since Yuri is already beginning to feel tired. He hides a yawn, hoping Mila doesn’t notice and send him to bed. He’s comfortable the way he is now. Mila is kind and caring, like a big sister should be (even if she does still get on his nerves sometimes). The blankets around them are soft, and his stomach is pleasantly full with the snacks Mila provided. Yuri is no longer paying attention to the movie, but the pleasant sounds drown out the terror of the storm. Feeling a warm sense of peace, he lets himself rest his head against Mila’s shoulder as he closes his eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> баба is Russian for woman or hag (or “peasant woman” according to google translate


End file.
